Rainday Outfit in 5 Minutes

So as you read earlier I was in Shreveport, LA for a football game this past week. There was not one ounce of sun and a ton of rain! Needless to say I did not do an expert job at packing and was not prepared for a wet game. So, thanks to Target I had a quick 5 minutes to pick up something cute and practical.

In the back of my mind I had a bit of inspiration for what I was looking for. Two of my favorite winter staples: Trapper Hats and Snow boots.

Trapper Hats and Snow Boots by msmiamaree featuring sorel shoes

Sorel shoes, €159
Sorel shoes, €99
Nine West fake fur hat, $25
KEVANDBELLE cap hat, €298
Jane Norman wool knit hat, £15
Failsworth Hats red black hat, £25


I knew I needed some type of waterproof boot, but it was very hard to justify spending money on rainboots when I had a perfectly good pair sitting back in NC. But then I stumbled upon these puppies....on clearance!

I'm a big fan of snow boots, I just don't have a need for them. But these were so comfortable, warm and waterproof! PLUS they were different looking than my rainboots....a clear justification for my husband when explaining why they were necessary.

Next came the hat to keep my ears warm. In true 5 minute scavenger hunt fashion, I ran to the clearance section and sure enough last one sitting there had my name written all over it. Only thing missing was the fur...

And over all? Throw in that ugly plastic poncho and it really didn't matter what the heck I wore underneath! Grrrr...

I did stay dry though...



Book Club Update

Hello Girls!
It feels great to be back and blogging; however, I will be on the road the next few days, but with much more internet access! yay!

I wanted to send out a quick I'd Rather Be Reading Book Club update. I also wanted to answer a few questions that I have gotten lately. One thing I really want to clear up is you DO NOT need to be a blogger to participate in the book club. Please please feel free to join. Instead of linking up your blog, just post your answers below in the comment section on that days post. We would LOVE to have all of you join, bloggers or not!

Remember our January book will be Sugar Queen by Sara Addison Allen

For more information about the book and organization of this link up, check here.

Next, I wanted to give you a few deadlines for the first book:

1st link up: Monday, January  9th (Chapters 1-3)
2nd link up: Monday, January 16th (Chapters 4-7)
3rd link up: Monday, January 23rd (Chapters 8-10)
4th link up: Monday, January 30th (Chapters 11-14)

We will post the questions for each section the Saturday before, so it will give you a few days to write your answers. We will have February's book announced by mid-month!

I will continue to answer questions as we go along, but for a faster response, follow me on twitter! You can find my button at the top of my page. I talk about the book club all the time and there will be much more updates on there!

CSY Design

Hey Guys! I wanted to share with you my Vector designer Casey Davis! When I began searching for a blog designer I knew I wanted Jenn from Munchkinland Designs to design my blog. However, I wanted a cute cartoon character and I could not find something that represented me on istock photo.

I reached out to my super talented friend Casey and we threw around some ideas on how to make what I wanted reality. Casey knew exactly what I was saying and produced something so beautiful and better than I even dreamed up at first!

I have gotten several compliments about "her" so I wanted to share the love! Casey can be found at CSY Design. If you are wanting a specialized vector reach out to him, ask him questions, he will be more than happy to help you and Casey is very reasonable! Talk to Casey to give your blog that specialized touch. I highly recommend his work.

Let me know if you have any questions!

The Tree on Jillian's Blog!

I hope you all had a Merry Merry Christmas! We sure did here in Shreveport. I am missing reading all my favorite blogs, the internet hasn't been great, that is why this is such a short post! I'll be back up and running later this week! All this Shreveport rain has given me some good inspiration, just wait and see!

But I did want to share with you Jillian Harris Blog. Today she featured a few of her favorite Christmas trees and our tree made the list! woo-hoo! I sure do love my tree and am honored that Jillian does too! I am CRAZY about her style! Hop on over and check out her blog. For more of my tree, you can see it here.

We'll talk soon!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card Holder

I got my Christmas Card Holder idea from Pinterest! I loved the ribbon holders and I knew it would be super easy to incorporate it into my Kitchen.

For example:

Source: coffeeatthree.blogspot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

Here is my take, I started with white and silver ribbon to match my other decor:

Picked up a pack of clothes pins at the dollar store

Added some cute sparkly snowmen

Made a big ribbon bow out of the extra ribbon

And voila!

I think if I do something different next year, I'd take time and paint the clothes pins silver! But other than that this was a very simple, inexpensive, quick project!

Versatile Blogger Award

I am so excited that I received the Versatile Blogger Award

from Brianna at Adventures of a Southern Wife

AND

from Alison at the Life of Two SoKools

Thank you girls, you are fabulous!

I have met some awesome people through blogging!

These 15 bloggers are new to my reading list and I am so lucky to have found them!

The Rules for this award:

1-Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.

2-Inform the bloggers of their nomination.

3-Share 7 random things about yourself.

4-Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5-Add the Versatile Blog Award picture on your blog post.

1. Emily at Bases Loaded

2. Kristina at Pretty Rambles

3. Heather at Life with Heather

4. Sarah at A Blank Canvas

5. Kate at Dancing in the Minefields

6. Kristine at Living a Barefoot and Crazy Lifestyle

7. Meg at Shine On

8. Michelle at Aww Shucks...Diary of a Mrs

9. Katie at Words by Katie

10. Sarah at Big Mama Taylor

11. Monica at Amazing Times to Come

12. Melanie at Sarcasm and Girls

13. Betty at It takes Two

14. Lane at Murphy's Law

15. Kate at Read Write Love

Go check these girls out! 

7 Things About Me:

1.I'm very new to the blogging world and absolutely love it!
2. If I don't take a bath right before bed I have a hard time sleeping
3.  Pinterest is so great, but I get sucked into Polyvore and then my bank account suffers
4. I really love my husband, but sometimes living with a boy sucks. (Grew up in a house of 4 girls)
5. I want to write a book someday
6. I have to have a new purse with the change of season, K doesn't get this
7. I dare say I like McDonald's Peppermint Mochas better than Starbucks! eeek! But don't worry I swoon over the Carmel Brulee Latte....

Thanks for stopping by!

The Rest of My Christmas Decor

In the past few weeks I have shared my Christmas Tree and my Christmas Mantel. I wanted to take a post and share the rest of my decorations!

Again: Tree and Mantel.

Here is my Nativity Scene

My Villages

My Stockings

My Coffee Table Sparkly Fruit

My Football Santa (of course Santa plays football in this household)

and My Football playing Nutcracker (This one definitely doesn't dance ballet)

I wish I could keep Christmas Decor up all year round....

Tea Lights and Table Decor

I wanted to share a super simple and very inexpensive way to add sparkle and lighting to your Christmas Dinner decor this year.

I started with .50 cent glass tea light holders.

Next I filled the bottom of the glass holders with white and silver glitter. Very inexpensive even when bought in bulk.

I nestled white tea lights (unscented since they will be around food) down into the glitter

And lastly I lit the candles to see if I liked how they turned out!

Next to add to my table decor, I received a gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpiece from some family friends. The pine was beautiful. It also lasts awhile when taken care of correctly! So this is how it matched Thanksgiving decor:

And then I took out the Thanksgiving baubles and added my own Christmas ones!

What are you making this Holiday Season?

My Sister: The Designer

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that my sister came to visit the first weekend in December. We had so much fun! But one thing I could not wait to share with you guys is her creativeness when it comes to clothing. Macy took a single piece of fabric and turned it into an article of clothing she can wear 5 ways.

This is how she started, she cut two arm holes in the fabric:

Her first way of wearing the garmet (Please ignore her sarcastic enthusiasm)

Second way:

Third way:

Fourth way:

Fifth way (as a scarf):



Macy is super cute and my living room is not due to no guest bedroom. Hello air mattress!
Thanks for the modeling and great tips on how to turn a single piece of fabric into something fashionable!

I'd Rather Be Reading Book Club

Happy Weekend to All!

Last week on Twitter I had announced my friend Jess and I were interested in starting a book club. And after reading a lot of your resolutions, I think everyone is a bit interested in reading more! We want this book club to be fun, challenging and help hold people accountable! I know I've joined a few book clubs where we had to read the book by the end of the month and naturally life got in the way...

So here is some information about how this book club is going to work.

We will begin "I'd Rather Be Reading" in January 2012! Our first book will be Sugar Queen by Sara Addison Allen. This book is 294 pages. We wanted to begin with a book that was easily read, fun to understand and not too long, not too short. This book will help us all test the waters and see if this is the right book club for all!

You can find the book very inexpensively right now on Amazon.

Now to the held accountable part. We wanted to make this a fun link-up party. Instead of saying "See you at the end of the month." We will be splitting this book into four sections and have a question and answer link-up every Monday. I will provide you with the button soon. This will give everyone a chance to explore different blogs and different takes on the book selection.

Jess and I picked this book, but we are very interested in getting your feed back for our next books. For right now, we will try one book a month and we'll see how it goes! We are SO excited to begin and hope you are too! Look out for more information in the next week or so, I just wanted to give you a head start to purchase or borrow the book!

Currently

Today I am linking up with Jennifer over at Perfectly Imperfect. She is hosting a link up party called "Currently" What I love about this post is it is giving me great ideas about books I want to read next, colors that should be on my nails, and am I missing any good TV shows? Plus, I've gotten to meet more awesome women!

So here goes....

Currently....

Current Book:

Current Playlist:

Current Color: Still loving the accent nail!

Current Drink: Chai Tea Latte


Current Food: Oatmeal with almonds and dried cranberries

Current Favorite TV Show:

Current Needs: Get home for the Holidays!


Current Triumph: Not letting my work website get the best of me! I tackled it yesterday!

Current bane of my existence: AIRLINES, the price of airline tickets!

Current Celebrity Crush: Say hello to the hottie from Hawaii 5 O (you are welcome)

Current #1 Blessing: My family  and husband

Current Indulgence: Skinny Peppermint Mochas

Current Outfit: I stole this pic from a previous post, Same outfit, no hat today!

Current Excitement: Watching White Christmas with K for the first time! (Well for him anyway...)

Current Mood: Happy! One more day of the week people!

Current Favorite Holiday Decoration: My Tree!

Current #1 Item on my Wishlist: My bb is on its last leg, I need a new phone!

Current New Years Resolutions: I'm going to learn how to sew!

I will only have a Moose Head if...

My husband and I go back and forth on interior decorating styles. He likes cabin rustic and I like elegant glamour. So it is no surprise when I constantly turn down the idea for a moose head, deer head, etc....No, no and no.

That is until I found this baby....I will only have a Moose Head if it looks just like this!

Source: alovelyescape.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

His Response:

You would do that to my moose.

Christmas Mantelscape!

Today I am joining the linky party over at A La Mode.

I want to share with you my Christmas Mantel! You will find that my Fall Mantel was a very similar set up with a different color scheme. I am crazy about those apothecary vases and candle stick holders that I wanted to reuse them in my Winter Mantel.

Here are some close up shots

Please ignore the Wii in the background, we couldn't get rid of it for the sake of decoration. I mean I almost got my arm chewed off when I dared to turn the football game off for .23 seconds to take one itty bitty picture! The lengths I will go to for home decor....

Holiday Challenge Day #10 NYE Memories

Last day of the Holiday Challenge. I had a lot of fun! I've met some awesome people! Thank you Neely and Amber for the fabulous challenge!

New Years Eve Memories

Well I've had some really great years and some really not so great years. K and I fell so sick with the flu one year we were both down and out. Thank goodness we were at my parents and Mom nursed us back to health (and she locked us in the basement, she is a germaphobe)

However, the real fun NYE were the ones we got to celebrate with family! We are planning on getting back to Minnesota again this year to be with my sisters and their sig. others! And what will we be wearing...SPARKLE!

 My sister Macy and I, we missed Marlo that year. 

K and I 

What are some of your favorite NYE memories?


Next week on the blog: MORE Christmas Decor and my sister Macy was here last weekend with a very cool take on a piece of fabric turned chic outfit a few different ways!